Fishing rod support



April 15, 1941. 1.. F. NISSEN FISHING ROD SUPPORT Filed March 9, 1959ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FISHING nonsurf-our Laurence F. Nissen, Dorchester, Mass. Application March 9,1939, Serial No. 260,770 7 Claims. (01. 43-4) This invention relates toa fishing rod support. tween the arms 30 extending from the receivingOne object of the invention is to provide a member. With thisarrangement, the handle novel fishing rod support capable of being atmaybe easily and quickly inserted or withdrawn. tached to the seat or otherportion of a boat and when the occasion arises. of being pivotally movedby the foot to cause the The supporting member 24 is pivotally mountrodsupported thereby to be rapidly elevated ed in a bracket 32 which isarranged to be whereby to hook a fish when a strike is obtained clampedto the seat 34 or other portion of a boat. and thereby permit thefisherman to continue As illustrated herein, the bracket 32 is providedrowing the boat and retain grasp of the cars. with a cut out portion 35adapted to fit over the A further object of the invention is to provideedge of the seat 34, and a clamp screw 36 may be a novel and improvedfishing rod support of the tightened up against the underside of theseat to character above specified having further provifirmly fix theunit in position. The pivotal sion for controlling the operation of thereel by mounting comprises a stud 38 which extends the fishermans foot.through lugs 40 depending from the member 24 With these general objectsin view and such and through the bracket32 being held in position othersas may hereinafter appear, the invention by a thumb nut 42 as shown inFig. 2. consists in the fishing rod support and in the va- Asillustrated herein, the forward portion 44 of rious other structures,arrangements and combithe member 24 rests against an angularly cutsurnations of parts hereinafter described and parface 45 of the bracket32 to dispose the rod at the ticularly defined in the claims at the endof this most efficient or convenient angle for fishing andspecification. particularly for trolling from or over the stern In thedrawing which illustrates the preferred of the boat. The member 24 isnormally retained embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is a side eleinthis position by a compression spring 48 which vation of the supportwith a fishing rod in place bears against the underside of an extendedporand clamped upon the seat of a rowboat; and 5 tion 50 of the member24, the lower end of the Figs. 2, 3 and 4, are cross-sectional viewstaken spring being supported in a socket 52 provided in on the lines2-2, 3--3 and 4-4 respectively. the bracket 32. The extended portion 50as here- In general the present invention contemplates in. shown, isprovided with a pad 53 and coma novel fishing rod support which may beused prises in effect, a foot pedal whereby, in operawith advantage by afisherman trolling in a rowtion, the member 24 may be rocked on itspivot boat and in which provision is made for control- 38 against thetension of the spring 48, by the lingthe rod by means of foot pedals topermit the foot of the fisherman to raise the rod quickly fisherman tocontinue rowing the boat during the when it is desired to hook the fishor when a trolling operation. To this end, the support is strike is madeand while the fisherman is engaged pivotally mounted to permit thesupport to be 5 in rowing the boat. rocked to raise the rod quickly whenthe line is Provision is also made in the preferred embodistruck by thefish. Provision is also made in the ment of the invention for brakingand releasing preferred embodiment of the invention for opthe reel l6during the trolling operation and crating the reel brake by means of afoot pedal which is adapted to be controlled by the foot of during thetrolling operation. the fisherman while he is engaged in rowing theReferring now to the drawing, Ill represents a boat. As herein shown, abraking member 54 is fishing rod of any usual or preferred constructionnormally disposed in operative engagement with and having a handle l2and provided with a porthe reel braking drum 56, and is arranged to betion 14 in which the reel I6 is received. The reel rocked out ofoperative engagement to release l6 may be clamped in the receivingportion in the line 58 by depressing a foot pedal 60. The any usualmanner such as by the bevelled end It foot pedal 6!) comprises one armof a bell-crank of a screw 20 which extends through the handle pivotallymounted at 62 in a member 64 secured l2 and which may be rotated toforce the bevelled to the upper surface of the extension of the endagainst the reel base 22, by turning the member24 see Fig. 4. The otherarm 66 of the knurled end 25 of the screw. 50 bell-crank is connected bya link 68 to one arm As hereinshown, the handle I2 is received in 10 ofa two-armed lever pivotally mounted at 12 a pivotally mounted supportingmember 24, the between the upwardly extending arms 30 which end of thehandle 26 being arranged to fit snugly are bent inwardly as illustratedin Fig. 3. The into a socket 28 provided on the member 24, the brakingmember 54, which may be of suitable forward part of the handle restingloosely bebraking material such as hard fibre, is affixed to a piece ofspring steel 74 which is attached to the second arm 75 of the two-armedlever. The braking member 54 is normally retained in braking engagementwith the reel drum 56 by a coil spring [6 which fits over the link 68and which is supported between a collar 18 on the link and angle bracket80 mounted on the top of the socket 28. The bracket 80 is provided witha slotted portion 82, see Fig. 2, through which the link 68 is arrangedto pass. With this construction the braking member 54 may be rocked fromoperative position to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1by simply depressing the foot pedal 60.

From the description thus far it will be observed that the presentfishing rod support may be used with advantage in trolling and whenmounted upon the seat facing the fisherman the latter may continue torow and retain grasp of the oars while operating the fishing rod to hookthe fish when a strike is obtained and thereafter to release the reeland permit the line to pay out. The present fishing rod support avoidsthe difiiculty which has heretofore been experienced by fishermen whiletrolling and resulting from releasing the oars and grasping the fishingpole when a strike is obtained. In many instances the oars are lostoverboard and considerable time elapses between the strike and theoperation of hooking the fish so that oftentimes the fish are lost whichwould otherwise be hooked.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described as embodied in a fishing rod support, it willbe understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms withinthe scope of the following claims.

Having thus described claimed is:

l. A fishing rod support comprising a rigid rod supporting memberadapted to receive and clamp the handle of a fishing rod in a normallyinclined position, a second member capable of being clamped to the seator other portion of the boat and upon which the rod supporting memher ispivoted to permit the rod supporting member to be rocked upwardly whenthe rear portion of the rod supporting member is engaged by the foot ofthe fisherman, said second member cooperating with the rod supportingmember to prevent the latter from being rocked downwardly beyond itsnormal position.

2. A fishing rod support comprising a rigid rod supporting memberadapted to receive and the invention, what is clamp the handle of afishing rod in a normally inclined position, a second member capable ofmember is pivoted at a point mediate the ends thereof to be rockedupwardly when the rear portion of the rod supporting member is depressedby the foot of the fisherman, said second member cooperating with therod supporting member to prevent the latter from being rocked downwardlybeyond its normal position.

3. A fishing rod support comprising a rigid rod supporting memberadapted to receive and clamp the handle of a fishing rod in a normallyinclined position, a second member capable of being clamped to the seator other portion of the boat and upon which the rod supporting member ispivoted to permit the rod supporting member to be rocked upwardly whenthe rear portion of the rod gaged by the foot supporting member is enofthe fisherman, said secand member cooperating with the rod supportingmember to prevent the latter from being rocked downwardly beyond itsnormal position, and foot operated reel braking mechanism mounted uponthe rod supporting member to form a unit therewith.

4. A fishing rod support comprising a rigid rod supporting memberadapted to receive and clamp the handle of a fishing rod in a normallyinclined position, a second member capable of being clamped to the seator other portion of the boat and upon which the rod supporting member ispivoted at a point mediate the ends thereof to be rocked upwardly whenthe rear portion of the rod supporting member is depressed by the footof the fisherman, said second member cooperating with the rod supportingmember to prevent the latter from being rocked downwardly beyond itsnormal position, and foot operated reel braking mechanism mounted uponthe rod supporting member to form a unit therewith.

5- A fishing rod support comprising a rigid rod supporting member havingprovision for the reception and clamping of the handle of the fishingrod to support the rod in a normally inclined position, a second membercapable of being clamped to the seat or other portion of the boat uponwhich the rod supporting member is pivoted, the end of the rodsupporting member remote from the fishing pole forming a foot treadleadapted to be depressed by the foot of a fisherman whereby to rock thefishing rod upwardly to hook the fish and reel braking mechanism mountedupon the rod supporting member and arranged to normally exert a brakingeffect upon the reel and including a second foot treadle adapted, uponengagement by the foot, to effect release of the reel whereby to permitthe line to pay out.

6. A fishing rod support comprising a rigid rod supporting memberadapted to receive and clamp the handle of a fishing rod in a normallyinclined position, a second member capable of being clamped to the seator other portion of the boat and upon which the rod supporting member ispivoted to permit the rod supporting member to be rocked upwardly whenthe rear portion of the rod supporting member is engaged by the foot ofthe fisherman, said second member cooperating with the rod supportingmember to positively prevent the latter from being rocked downwardlybeyond its normal position, and means for returning the rod and itspivotal supporting member to its normally inclined position when thefoot is removed from the rear portion thereof.

7. A fishing rod support comprising a rigid. rod supporting memberadapted to receive and clamp the handle of a fishing rod in a normallyinclined position, a second member capable of being clamped to the seator other portion of the boat and upon which the rod supporting member ispivoted at a point mediate the ends thereof to be rocked upwardly whenthe rear portion of the rod supporting member is depressed by the footof the fisherman, said second member cooperating with the rod supportingmember to positively prevent the latter from being rocked downwardlybeyond its normal position, and means for returning the rod and itspivotal supporting member to its normally inclined position when thefoot is removed from the rear portion thereof.

LAURENCE F. NISSEN.

